Tabletop game

ABSTRACT

A tabletop game includes a first controller mounted to the surface about a first axis such that the first controller is pivotable about the first axis, the first controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Disclosure Ser. No. 63/270,664 filed Oct. 22, 2021.

The present disclosure relates to a tabletop game.

There are many different types of tabletop games that are played and enjoyed by players. Examples of tabletop games include foosball, billiards, air hockey, and many others. Multiple individuals often play tabletop games in a competitive or semi-competitive nature. In some tabletop games, a single person can be the sole player.

SUMMARY

A controller for a tabletop game according to one disclosed non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure includes a pivot shaft mounted through the base to define an axis; a slide system mounted to the base; and a bumper mounted to the slide system such that bumper is movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes, wherein the slide system is spring biased to the resting position.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes a rear handhold attached to the slide system.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes a front handhold attached to the base.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes, wherein the slide system further comprising a slide rail connected to the rear handhold and the bumper.

A tabletop game according to one disclosed non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first controller mounted to the surface about a first axis such that the first controller is pivotable about the first axis, the first controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position; a second controller mounted to the surface about a second axis such that the second controller is pivotable about the second axis, the second controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position; a third controller mounted to the surface about a third axis such that the third controller is pivotable about the third axis, the third controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position; and a fourth controller mounted to the surface about a fourth axis such that the fourth controller is pivotable about the fourth axis, the fourth controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes, wherein the first controller is adjacent to the second controller and a first end of the surface.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes an end bell adjacent to the first end of the surface.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes, wherein the third controller is adjacent to the fourth controller and a second end of the surface, the second end opposite the first end.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes an end bell adjacent to the second end of the surface.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes a scoring counter.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes a roll in device to roll a ball onto the surface.

A further embodiment of any of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure includes, wherein the surface is covered in felt.

The foregoing features and elements may be combined in various combinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated otherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation thereof will become more apparent in light of the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be appreciated that however the following description and drawings are intended to be exemplary in nature and non-limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various features will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the disclosed non-limiting embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rocket ball tabletop game according to one disclosed non-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing two controllers of the rocket ball tabletop game.

FIG. 2B is a perspective view showing two controllers of the rocket ball tabletop game according to another disclosed non-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 2C is a perspective view showing a paly surface of the rocket ball tabletop game according to another disclosed non-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an alternative rotation of two controllers of rocket ball tabletop game.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a controller showing a resting position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a controller showing an alternative perspective in a resting position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a controller showing the controller in the forward position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a controller according to another disclosed non-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an exemplary end bell.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a controller lifted from the surface of the rocket ball tabletop game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a tabletop game 101 herein referred to as rocket ball. Rocket ball 101 includes a first controller 102 a, a second controller 102 b, a surface 104, a first end bell 105, a second end bell 106, a first end 107, a second end 108, a first side 109, and a second side 110. A ball 103 is placed on the surface 104 and may be struck by the controllers 102 such that the ball 103 is caused to move along the surface 104.

One preferred embodiment of rocket ball includes four controllers for two players. The first controller 102 a and the third controller 102 c are located closer to the first end 107 and closer to the first end bell 105. The second controller 102 b and the fourth controller 102 d are closer to the second end 108 and the second end bell 106. Each controller 102 is mounted to the surface but may be pivoted about a respective axis P.

To use rocket ball 101, a first player will be positioned at the first end 107, and a second player will be positioned at the second end 108. The players may pivot their controller 102 about a respective axis P to strike the ball 103 and thereby cause the ball 103 to move around on the surface 104. Players will attempt to strike the ball 103 such that the ball 103 will pass the controllers 102 of the other player located on the opposite end of the surface 104. When the ball 103 passes the controllers 102, the ball 103 will strike the end bell.

The surface 104 is that upon which the ball 103 may be placed and upon which the ball 103 is moved. The ball 103 can be a standard billiards type ball, a snooker ball or can be any other type of ball that can be struck by the controllers 102. The ball 103 may be sized such that bumpers on the controllers 102 do not cause the ball 103 to lift away from the surface 104.

The surface 104 may be a solid material covered in felt. The solid material may be a slate as typically use by a billiards table. Alternatively, the solid material may be plastic, wood, or any other composite. Felt may cover the material or the material may be left bare.

The first end bell 105 and the second end bell 106 are located respectively at the first end 107 and the second end 108. The first end bell 105 and the second end bell 106 may be referred herein as the end bells. The first end bell 105 and the second end bell 106 may be identical in construction. The first end bell 105 and the second end bell 106 may extend for the length of the first end 107 and the second end 108 or may be sized to be of a lesser length. The end bells are located behind the controllers 102. The end bells may include material which is operable to stop the ball 103 after it has passed the controllers 102 on a respective end of the surface 104.

The end bells are manufactured of a material that causes a ringing sound in response to being struck by the ball 103. An example of a material that will ring is steel. In order to create the ringing sound, the end bells must not be securely attached to the surface 104 or the first end 107 or second end 108. If the end bells are securely attached, a ringing sound will not result. A secure attachment is one wherein the attachment keeps the end bell from vibrating. For example, if the end bells were torqued tightly with a nut and bolt to the first end 107 or second end 108, the end bells would not ring. If a nut and bolt loosely held the end bells, the end bells will ring when struck by the ball 103. Alternatively, the end bells may be configured not to ring when struck by the ball 103. To achieve the result of not ringing, the end bells may for example be constructed of a plastic material or a wood.

As an alternative embodiment, the first end bell 105 or the second end bell 106 may be substituted with an electronic device that detects if the ball 103 strikes the respective end bell. An embodiment with an electronic device would allow for the scoring or counting of ball strikes upon the first end bell 105 and the second end bell 106.

The surface 104 extends from the first end 107 to the second end 108 and from the first side 109 to the second side and typically forms a rectilinear play surface. The first end 107, the second end 108, the first side 109, and the second side 110 are considered the edges of the surface. In one embodiment, the surface 104 is of a rectangular shape. In other embodiments, the surface 104 may be in a square shape. Other embodiments may result in the surface having more than four edges. For example, the surface could have six edges or eight edges. In such embodiments, there may be more than four controllers. In such embodiments, there may be six, eight, or even more controllers.

The first side 109 and the second side 110 are constructed to allow the ball 103 to bounce off the first side 109 or second side 110. The first side 109 and second side 110 may be referred to as a side. An exemplary side includes a rubber strip upon which the ball 103 may bounce. The rubber strip may be covered in felt or may be uncovered. A solid material such as metal, plastic, or wood may be used as a side if the material is hard enough to cause the ball 103 to bounce without losing significant energy. The sides may also include segments that may be installed on a conventional billiards table to block, for example, the side pockets. The sides must be constructed such that the ball 103 easily bounces of the side upon striking a side.

Rocket ball 101 may further include a scoring counter 111 and a roll in device 112. The scoring counter 111 as shown in FIG. 1 is a set of beads secured to a tube that is secured to the first side 109. The scoring counter 111 can come in any format or design as appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art and may be located on any position on the rocket ball 101 game. For example, if the first end bell 105 and the second end bell 106 are electronic, an electronic scoring counter 111 could be secured to the second side 110.

A roll in device 112 is a device which a user can employ to roll the ball 103 onto the surface 104. The roll in device 112 allows the ball 103 to gain momentum as it is placed onto the surface 104. A roll in device 112 may be of a U-shaped channel constructed such that the U-shape is slightly bigger than the ball 103. As an alternative to using a single ball, multiple balls may be placed on the surface 104 at one time. Multiple balls on the surface 104 may change the gameplay dynamic of the rocket ball 101 game.

With reference to FIG. 2 , the first controller 102 a and the third controller 102 c are located near the first end 107 and the first end bell 105. The first end bell 105 may extend between the first side 109 to the second side 110. Thus, the ball 103 may strike the first end bell 105 if it is caused to be moved past the first controller 102 a and the third controller 102 c.

Each of the controllers 102 are affixed to the surface but may be pivoted about their respective axis P. As shown in FIG. 2A the third controller 102 c is rotated about its axis P such that its bumper 403 is immediately adjacent to the first side 109 and the first controller 102 a is rotated about its axis P such that its bumper 403 is immediately adjacent to the second side 110. The bumper 403 may thus be traversed within an arc formed with an apex at the axis P. The base 401 is allowed to pivot about the axis P defined by the pivot shaft 801 (FIG. 8 ). The pivot shaft 801 allows the bumper 403 to be traversed within the arc defined between the stops 408.

This rotation configuration results in a middle gap 201. The middle gap 201 is the area between the bumper on the third controller 102 c and the bumper on the first controller 102 a wherein the ball 103 may pass by the controllers 102.

With reference to FIG. 2B, an alternate embodiment of surface 104 includes bumpers 214 such as in the middle gap 201, a right gap 301 and a left gap 302. The surface 104, in one embodiment, may be 2×3 feet and sized to be placed on a table top. The surface 104 may include foam rubber supports 216 (FIG. 2C.) to protect any table finish.

With reference to FIG. 3 the third controller 102 c is rotatable about axis P such that its bumper is immediately adjacent to the bumper of the first controller 102 a to essentially block the middle gap 201. The controllers 102 can only be rotated to the extent allowed by base stops 408 positioned to constrain the rotation of the controllers 102. The resulting rotation configuration as shown provides the right gap 301 and the left gap 302. When the ball 103 is in motion, it may pass the controllers through the left gap 302 or the right gap 301 such that the ball 103 strikes the first end bell 105.

With reference to FIG. 4 one exemplary controller 102 includes a base 401, a slide guide 407, a slide system 402, a bumper 403 and a pivot shaft 801 that defines the axis P. The bumper 403 is attached to the slide system 402 such that the slide system 402 can slide between a resting position (FIGS. 4 and 5 ) and a forward position (FIG. 6 ). The ball 103 can be struck by the bumper 403 as the slide system 402 is move from the resting position to the forward position.

The base 401 is attached to the pivot shaft 801 such that the base 401 may rotate about axis P. The base 401 and the components secured to the base 401 can rotate about axis P. Secured to the base 401 is the slide system 402 and the slide guide 407. The base 401 can only rotate to the extent constrained by the base stops 408. The base stops 408 include the first stop 408 a and the second stop 408 b which may be a bolt attached to the surface (FIG. 8 ).

The slide system 402 is included of a slide rail 409, a rear handhold 405, and a bumper 403. The slide rail 409 is connected to the rear handhold 405 and the bumper 403. The location where the bumper 403 is connected to the slide rail 409 is the front of the slide rail 409.

The back of the slide rail 409 is the distal end of the slide rail 409 relative to the front. The slide rail 409 may include a first rail 409 a and a second rail 409 b each of which supports a spring 410. In an alternative embodiment, an elastic band 411 (FIG. 7 ) replaces the springs.

In an alternative embodiment, the slide rail 409 may include a single rail or more than two rails. The rear handhold 405 is secured to the slide rail 409. The rear handhold 405 may be secured to the slide rail 409 a variety of fasteners, molded together, welding, or the use of clamps. In this embodiment, clamps are used to secure the rear handhold 405 to the slide rail 409.

One or more of the springs 410 are configured such that pressure is applied between the slide system 402 and the slide guide 407 transverse to the axis P. The springs 410 are configured to apply pressure between the front guide 407 b and the rear handhold 405. The pressure causes the slide system 402 to stay in the resting position unless pressure is applied to the rear handhold 405. When pressure is applied to the rear handhold 405, the entire slide system 402 may slide forward such that the bumper 403 moves away from the front guide 407 b in a plane parallel to the surface 104 transverse to the axis P.

The bumper 403 is assembled such that when a ball 103 strikes the bumper 403, the bumper 403 is positioned above the center of gravity of the ball 103 so that the ball 103 does not move off the surface 104. The bumper 403 may be a solid structure attached to the slide rail 409 or may include a stiff backing 411 and an elastic face 412. In one embodiment, the stiff backing 411 is a piece of angled metal and the elastic face 412 is a rubber.

The slide guide 407 may include a front guide 407 b and a rear guide 407 a. The front handhold 404 is attached to the front guide 407 b. The front guide 407 b and the rear guide 407 a are attached respectively to the base 401. There are one or more penetrations in the front guide 407 b through which the slide rail 409 may slide through. In this embodiment, the front guide 407 b has two penetrations that allow the first rail 409 a and the second rail 409 b to slide through. The rear guide 407 a similarly has two penetrations that allow the first rail 409 a and the second rail 409 b to slide therethrough. The penetrations through which the slide rail 409 slides are aligned such that the slide system 402 may move between the resting position and the forward position while maintaining a position parallel to the surface 104

The front handhold 404 is attached to the front guide 407 b and the rear handhold 405 is attached to the rear guide 407 a. When pressure is applied, the rear handhold 405 is moved to a position closer to the front handhold 404. Typically, the front handhold 404 is touched by a player's index fingers and the player's thumb touches the rear handhold 405 such that the player may squeeze the front handhold 404 and the rear handhold 405 together. Additionally, the player may rotate the controller 102 about the axis P.

With reference to FIG. 5 , the controller 102 is shown in a resting position. The base stops 408 may be seen in this perspective. The base stops 408 include the first stop 408 a and the second stop 408 b. The base stops 408 in this embodiment are positioned near the back of the controller 102, and are connected to the surface 104. A base extension 501 is attached to the back of the controller 102 such that when the controller 102 is rotated, the base extension 501 will strike either the first stop 408 a or the second stop 408 b. This strike will effectively constrain the allowed rotation of the controller 102. Alternatively, the base stops 408 could be attached underneath the surface 104 or integrated into the base 401 or the pivot shaft 801.

With reference to FIG. 6 the controller 102 is shown in the forward position. The forward position is defined as when pressure is applied on the rear handhold 405 and the slide system 402 is moved forward such that the bumper 403 moves away from the front guide 407 b. The ball 103 may be struck and propelled when the slide system 402 is moved forward.

With reference to FIG. 8 the first end bell 105 as shown in the figure is painted. In other embodiments the end bell may be left as a bare surface.

With reference to FIG. 9 the controller 102 is shown displaced from the surface 104. At the bottom of the base 401 is the pivot shaft 801 that extends distally away from the base 401. The surface 104 is configured to allow the pivot shaft 801 to penetrate the surface 104. The pivot shaft 801 may be secured on the underside of the surface 104. A washer 802 is shown on the surface 104 where the pivot shaft 801 may penetrate the surface 104. The washer 802 can be configured to position the controller 102 at the desired height above the surface 104. Further the washer 802 may ensure the controller 102 is positioned above the surface 104 so that the controller 102 may rotate without friction between the surface 104 and the base 401.

Rocket ball may be played with a player on each end of the surface or even eight players on each side of an octagon for example. The player's left and right hand each control a controller. A roll in device on each player's end may be used to roll the ball into play. Each player tries to strike the ball past their opponent's controllers, either on the sides or between them. Behind the controllers on each end is an end bell that may make an audible ring when struck by the ball when a point is scored. If a player's paddle strikes the ball and the ball does not cross the table, it is a foul and also a point for their opponent. This motivates each player to strike the ball forward each time using their controller. The ball at times will cross the table many times at a high rate of speed before a point is scored. A scoring system may be such that the first player to score seven points wins the game.

Although the different non-limiting embodiments have specific illustrated components, the embodiments of this invention are not limited to those particular combinations. It is possible to use some of the components or features from any of the non-limiting embodiments in combination with features or components from any of the other non-limiting embodiments.

The foregoing description is exemplary rather than defined by the limitations within. Various non-limiting embodiments are disclosed herein, however, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that various modifications and variations in light of the above teachings will fall within the scope of the appended claims. It is therefore to be appreciated that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practiced other than as specifically described. For that reason the appended claims should be studied to determine true scope and content. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A controller for a tabletop game, comprising: a base; a pivot shaft mounted through the base to define an axis; a slide system mounted to the base; and a bumper mounted to the slide system such that bumper is movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position.
 2. The controller as recited in claim 1, wherein the slide system is spring biased to the resting position.
 3. The controller as recited in claim 2, further comprising a rear handhold attached to the slide system.
 4. The controller as recited in claim 3, further comprising a front handhold attached to the base.
 5. The controller as recited in claim 4, wherein the slide system further comprising a slide rail connected to the rear handhold and the bumper.
 6. A tabletop game, comprising: a surface; a first controller mounted to the surface about a first axis such that the first controller is pivotable about the first axis, the first controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position; and a second controller mounted to the surface about a second axis such that the second controller is pivotable about the second axis, the second controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position; a third controller mounted to the surface about a third axis such that the third controller is pivotable about the third axis, the third controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position; and a fourth controller mounted to the surface about a fourth axis such that the fourth controller is pivotable about the fourth axis, the fourth controller comprises a bumper movable transverse to the axis between a resting position and a forward position.
 7. The tabletop game as recited in claim 6, wherein the first controller is adjacent to the second controller and a first end of the surface.
 8. The tabletop game as recited in claim 7, further comprising an end bell adjacent to the first end of the surface.
 9. The tabletop game as recited in claim 8, wherein the third controller is adjacent to the fourth controller and a second end of the surface, the second end opposite the first end.
 10. The tabletop game as recited in claim 9, further comprising an end bell adjacent to the second end of the surface.
 11. The tabletop game as recited in claim 6, further comprising a scoring counter.
 12. The tabletop game as recited in claim 6, further comprising a roll in device to roll a ball onto the surface.
 13. The tabletop game as recited in claim 6, wherein the surface is covered in felt. 